ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the history of the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the United States, and how it evolved over the ten-year period from 1970 to 1980. It examines the initial Guidelines developed by the Council on Environmental Quality in 1973 to assist agencies to comply with NEPA, and the response of Federal agencies to these guidelines. In the early years of NEPA, with the absence of formalized procedures, it was difficult for agency staff members to know how they should proceed with an environmental review. In order to maximize implementation of the purposes and goals of NEPA, a suggestion is offered to planners and others interested in an adequate hearing for environmental concerns. It is more likely that a proposed action will remain within the NEPA process if the mutual interdependence between a human community and its natural environmental base is made more apparent.
